Standing under the hot running water, she wished she could wash away her poisoned blood too. Now that she could breathe easy again, the relief of everyone making it out of there alive poured through her. She cried so hard that she gasped to take in air. Her tears fell, blending with the water droplets. Through her sobbing, she let out all her worries, frustrations, and the one question she knew had no answer-why? Why did it have to be her?
After she finished, she dried herself off, put on Mason's clothes, and headed for the king-sized bed.
Looking around the room, bad memories of Remus crashed through and when she heard the door creak open, she gasped. Seeing Mason, her nerves quickly calmed.
"Your clothes are drying. I'll get them for you in the morning," Mason said.
"Thank you."
"You should go to bed. Do you have early morning classes?"
"No. I have one in the late afternoon."
"Okay, that's good. You can sleep on the right side. I'll sleep on the left. It's a king-sized bed, so I'm sure we can both fit."
"Of course. Thank you."
Mason moved closer, making Skylar's heart flutter euphorically. The way he came toward her, with such an alluring look, overpowered her with desire and emotions. While stroking her hair, Mason spoke softly, "We should be thanking you. You came for us, you came for me. Why?"
"Because . . . because I know you would do the same for me," Skylar expressed, closing her eyes and enjoying Mason's caresses. What she wanted to say was that she cared for him, and she needed to know he was safe. "You were gone so long. At first I thought you-I mean, I couldn't just wait around. I had to make sure you were-I mean, everybody was safe."
"Let me see your wounds."
Skylar peered up and turned her head slightly so he could examine her. Though she was unsure if it was purposely done, his touch was pleasant, making her excited and sleepy at the same time. She didn't know how long she could control herself. Any minute now her knees would buckle.
"They've healed nicely. You can't tell."
Under normal circumstances she would probably still be bleeding or have a big gash. Instead, her cut had healed as if she'd never had one. "The pain was already gone when we were almost out of Olympus." The pain was gone when you touched me, she wanted to say, but couldn't.
"You were pretty awesome back there. Where did you learn to fight like that?"
"My mom made me take self-defense classes. You know, just in case."
"I better remember not to piss you off."
Skylar giggled shyly, but then became serious. "This isn't over, is it?"
"I think it is for now, but she'll be back. We'll have to keep our guard up. At least we know who the vultures get their orders from. When we see them, we'll know she's around. No more talking. You should go to bed."
After tucking herself in, Skylar scooted to the edge of her side of the bed. Lying next to Mason was not her idea of a comfortable sleep. Being next to him made her stomach flutter with nervousness and happiness. Feeling restless, she curled her legs in, then out, and then back in. Her arms did the same. She wanted to turn her body to him to see if he was asleep, but she couldn't.
"Sky. Stop moving and go to sleep," Mason said. He sounded groggy.
Skylar froze. She was trying not to disturb him, but the questions she had were eating at her.
"You can ask me one question," he said as if he knew she was itching to ask.
"I can ask you one question?"
"Yes, Echo."
Skylar giggled to herself. Though she claimed she didn't like being called that, it had become their inside joke. It was a special nickname, and she didn't mind it so much. Recalling his tattoo, she was dying to ask him the significance of it. "Why do you have the lightning tattoo on your arm?"
She heard him sigh softly, seeming to hesitate before he answered, "It's very personal, but I'll tell you," he mumbled softly. "I got that tattoo shortly after my mom passed away. In a way, it helped me to accept who I am and the powers I possess, though I didn't have a choice. It is a reminder for me to use them wisely, responsibly, and to protect others who can't defend themselves against evil. You know, something corny like ‘with great power comes great responsibility,' like they said it in the Spiderman movie."
Wow! She did not expect that at all. How beautiful his words were. How beautiful he was. Knowing it was personal and he had shared it with her, she was simply stunned, but she could only think of one lame word to say, "Oh." Then she remembered how it radiated when he used his powers. "Your tattoo glowed when you used your powers. I saw it light up."
"I always glow," he said matter-of-factly with a note of arrogance in his tone, not wanting to answer the question.
She would have agreed, though she wasn't quite sure what he meant, but she didn't want to fatten his ego even more, so she said nothing. Then she changed the subject, hoping he would answer more of her questions before he decided cut it short. "Are you afraid of me?"
"If I was, do you think you would be in my bed right now?"
Skylar thought about what Mason said and realized she'd asked a stupid question. "Do you like me? I mean, could you like me as a friend, with the dark side and all?"
"I said only one question. That was three, but I'll answer. Yes."
"Do you think I'm evil?"
"No. Now you've asked four. No more." He exhaled an irritated sigh. "Sky, turn around."
When Skylar turned, Mason was inches away. With his elbow on the pillow and his fist under his chin holding up his head, he looked down at her. Trying not to look into his eyes, she focused on his lips instead-not a good idea.
"What do I have to do or say to convince you that I don't think you're evil?"
"I . . . " Skylar couldn't speak, let alone concentrate on her thoughts. He was so close that if she raised her head just an inch, his lips would be on hers. She couldn't stop the heat tingling throughout her body. She wanted to be mad at him so she wouldn't have these feelings and that didn't take long. He started acting rude again.
"Next time, don't come to my rescue. It could've all gone wrong. You could've gotten yourself killed."
The "I want you" tingles shot away as he spoke, "What do you mean? You would rather I had ignored the note I got and just let bad things happen to you?"
"Yes. You should care about your own life and not mine. If anything happened to you . . . "
With both of her hands on his chest pressing lightly, Skylar was just about to push him away when she realized he'd said something sweet-"If anything happened to you"-but he never finished. "You would what?"
"Why did you come?" he continued.
"Be-because . . . " Smoothly, as if her hands had a mind of their own, they ran up his muscular chest, over his shoulders, and down the curve of his biceps. She couldn't believe what she was doing.
Lost in Skylar's touch, he blinked when she stopped and snapped out of his daze. "Because you care? Well, you shouldn't." All of a sudden, his soft tone sharpened. His eyes fluttered with pain, sorrow, and anger under his eyelashes. "You shouldn't care. I'm no good for you. I won't return the feeling." He snatched her hands, pinned them against the pillow with both hands on either side, and fixed his eyes sternly on hers. "No matter what you do, I won't care. My walls are too thick, sealed up tight. No one can break them. Not Nick, not Everett, not Amanda, and certainly not you. So don't waste your time. I'm broken, and you can't fix broken people."
Skylar was extremely hurt by his words, but his actions and his eyes told her otherwise. She knew at that moment there was hope. Amanda had accidentally told her Mason felt guilty for his mother's death. Since then he hadn't been the same. Now she understood why he was always so protective. Now she understood when he got mad at her for coming to his rescue. Perhaps he did care, but he wouldn't admit it. Maybe with time and patience, she could help him heal. He could be free of his guilt and hurt.
"To answer your question, you're not evil," he continued. "I knew that the moment I saw you." Then his eyes became soft. "There is something sweet and innocent about you. Perhaps that can be part of evil, who knows? But you can't be." Mason's tone trailed off when he brushed his face into her hair. "You're not evil, Sky. You smell sweet and your cheeks are soft. Evil doesn't feel good like you."
Skylar thought she was having a heart attack. No guy had ever made her heart beat so fast. No other guy had ever made her feel that way before, not even her ex-boyfriend. Then she realized what she had felt for her ex was nothing in comparison to how she felt about Mason.